Renaissance Tampa is The Place to Stay in Tampa, Fl

Situated next to the International Plaza mall, the Renaissance Tampa hotel has got to be the destination hotel in Tampa. Why? Well...let's start with the concept behind the hotel.

The Renaissance Tampa is one of the few hotels I know that has a story that was developed before the theme was decided. I know, you are probably saying theme and story are the same thing. Not necessarily, actually, not at all. Let me demonstrate the difference with hotels. The Gaylord Palms in Orlando/Kissimmee is a breathtaking hotel with three different atriums. Each atrium and the rooms that surround that atrium have a theme - the Everglades, St. Augustine and Key West to be exact. So all the rooms in the Key West atrium have bright colors with whitewashed furniture to give a feeling of being in Key West. The Renaissance Tampa has an actual story. It is the story of Sergio and Gabriella.

Sergio and Gabriella are newlyweds that have just built a mansion in Gabriella's home town of Tampa. The two meet while Gabriella was traveling to Spain to look for cigar rings and boxes after inheriting her father's Tampa cigar company. Of course, they fall in love and marry. The mansion (a.k.a the Renaissance Tampa) is their dream home and is built to look like the Mediterranean villas of the Costa Del Sol. Simply put the Renaissance Tampa is Sergio's and Gabriella's home.

After the designers came up with the story then they decided to decorate the hotel. So, they tried to make it look like a home. A couple of interesting choices are: the photos that adorn the walls everywhere are of Sergio and Gabriella (actually two models) and on the left hand side of the porte-cache is a tiled message that says "Sergio and Gabriella welcome you". Nice design touch I thought.